New Brunswick- Did you ever expect your physician to check his or her iPhone before scheduling your next appointment? The time is near. This fall all entering medical school students at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School were required to have an iPod Touch or iPhone as well as a laptop computer.

The medical school introduced a mobility initiative designed to integrate electronic content including images, audio, video, and other digital assets and make it available through mobile technologies.

“We are proud to provide our medical students with the latest technological applications available,” states Peter S. Amenta, MD, PhD, dean of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “Educating the next generation of physicians requires providing them with tools to excel in their quest to become top-tier physicians and provide the highest quality care to their patients.”

The mobility resources offered to students include:

1) Mobile access to academic lectures, presentations and audio files,

2) Mobile access to e-mail and the Internet,

3) Mobile access to the medical school calendar with real time updates,

4) An Audience Response System which allows lecturers and instructors to present questions and provides a channel for immediate feedback from the students,

5) Twitter for real-time messaging and

6) A Clinical Activities Tracking System for students to record and document patient encounters.

“What mobility really means is total access to course material for our students anywhere in the world at any time of the day,” remarks Alex Izaguirre, director of information technology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “The introduction of the mobility initiative empowers the school to move in directions previously not possible. For example, students will have access to a repertoire of new applications, both commercially available and internally developed, affording them with state-of-the-art medical training.”

“This initiative complements many other technological advances at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School including the implementation of the electronic medical record and e-prescribing within our physician practice,” explains Dr. Amenta. “We continually strive to remain at the forefront of modern healthcare in research, education, community health and patient care.”